Sen: Daughter of Roku
by FLZ
Summary: "Remember who you are." These words echo in Sen's mind. A reflection on the life of Avatar Roku's daughter. Now updated with Chapter 5: Destiny. 07 Jan 2011.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

(Please note, there is the some Zutara in this section of the story ONLY, I do NOT intend on even mentioning them again until the epilogue. If you have a problem with the ship I suggest only reading the scroll portions, please try to enjoy regardless, if you cannot, I am deeply sorry something so trivial turned you off my work.)

Avatar and canon characters are © Viacom, Sen and other non-canon characters are mine.

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_My mother always told me it was important to remember who I was. As a child I never fully understood what she meant when she said that. I thought she was worried that I would wake up one morning unable to remember my name or something like that. It has taken most of my life to realize why she wanted me to remember, because if I didn't, no one else would. That is why, tonight, I am taking record of my life, so once I am gone others may be able to look back over my experiences, learn from them, avoid my mistakes, and hopefully bring closure to my story._

_Who am I then? Most called me Sen, and though few knew it, I was the daughter of Ta Min and Avatar Roku. This is my story._

_... ... ... ... ..._

"Where did you find this?" Zuko asked.

"Wan Shi Tong's Spirit Library," Katara answered. "Sokka, um, borrowed it earlier this spring, about the time we learned about the eclipse. When you told me that Roku was your mother's grandfather, I remembered reading this. I thought it might have clues as to what happened to your mother." She watched him reread the first section.

"I doubt it," he sighed. "My grandmother died the night before my parents' wedding, several years before I was even born." His face was sunken as he handed the scroll back to Katara.

"It couldn't hurt to try." She put her hands around his and pushed the scroll back towards him. Zuko's gaze drifted from their hands up to her face. In her eyes he saw the gratitude she had for what he had done for her the day prior, and the desire to return the favor. He had seen a similar compassion when they were imprisoned together under Ba Sing Se.

"No, I guess it couldn't." They both smiled as he reopened the scroll and began reading aloud.

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**Author's Notes: So I've finally gotten around to actually writing this. It's just an idea that has been lingering in my mind for some time now, premise being linking Ursa to Roku. We know she was his granddaughter, but we never see her parents / his children. I thought I'd fill in the blanks. It is set between the events of The Southern Raiders and Sozin's Comet Part 1: The Phoenix King. Following chapters to be longer, I'm planning on having about 10 of them. Reviews, critiques, etc are always welcome and will motivate me to post faster, so please comment. Hope you enjoy!**


	2. Childhood

**Childhood**

The Avatar universe, including all canon characters and locations, are © Viacom. Sen and Rokia are my creations.

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I was born in the Fire Nation royal palace as summer was coming to a close, but I guess my story actually starts six months prior, the night my father died. I cannot be sure what truly happened that night so I will recount the story I grew up on, told to me by my father's old friend, Fire Lord Sozin.

The eruption started in the dead of night while all the people of my village were asleep. Everyone, including my parents, fled to the coast in hopes of making it safely out to sea, but then my parents were separated, my father staying back to fight the volcano, buying everyone precious time, while my mother continued to the boats. One hundred miles away, at the palace, Fire Lord Sozin could feel the tremors and see the black smoke billowing from our island, he described it as the worst catastrophe he had ever seen. By the time he made it to the island, my father had been able to overcome the primary eruption, just before the secondary eruption began. Together they fought to quell the volcano's fury, but it proved to be too much, even for them. One tremor nearly knocked the Fire Lord off the rim of the volcano, if it hadn't been for my father earthbending a second ledge out under him, Sozin believes he would have fallen to his death. Knowing theirs to be a losing fight, and that the village had been completely evacuated, they too made their way out to the beach where they could escape on the Fire Lord's dragon. Running down the slope, my father was engulfed and overwhelmed by a plume of the poisonous volcanic gas. Sozin tried to help him, offering to carry my father on his back, but he refused.

"I'd only slow you down. Save yourself and take care of Ta Min for me. I'll make sure you can get away." These were his last words before airbending the Fire Lord down the slope a safe distance. The pyroclastic flow soon enveloped my father, burying him alive.

So Fire Lord Sozin kept his promise to my father and my mother moved into the palace, soon I was born, and I wasn't alone. At the start of that summer the Fire Lady gave birth to her first child, a daughter her father named Rokia, in honor of his passed friend, though in later years he would simply shorten it to Kia. Mother decided to return the gesture and named me Sen. The princess and I grew up together as if we were sisters, practically inseparable, it was a rare occurrence to find one of us without the other nearby. There were the exceptions though, her firebending classes and my trips with Mother for example. Rokia was a prodigy firebender and her father insisted that her training be strictly private. Outside of practice though, she refused to use her talent, she thought of her bending as a curse and often wished she had been born without it, like me. I never told her, but I secretly wished I were born a bender like her, like my father.

We grew up like any other girls, playing dress up, cart-wheeling across the lawns, staying up late giggling about boys and the littlest things, and exploring the extent of her royal privileges. There were other girls, the daughters of Noblemen and women, most we met at the Royal Academy, but none ever stood out as true friends. There were also the boys, many the sons of the same Nobles, all hoping to gain favor with the Fire Lord and the Princess as potential suitors. Rokia despised all of them for this, she hated the idea of being told who she would marry, so she would mess with them, scaring them off before they got to comfortable in the palace. I always enjoyed watching her schemes unfold. Even as adults we reminisced over our favorite plot, the time she dressed me up as her so we could switch back and forth, the poor boy was clueless.

Mother was constantly traveling to the Air Temples throughout my childhood, and often she brought me along with her. Almost all the trips she took me on were to the Western Air Temple, such a beautiful place, where the temple towers hung upside down from the cliff overhang. I would get to play with the young nun girls while my mother met with the elder nuns. I wish I could say I became great friends with some of the girls my age, but sadly I did not. My most vivid memories of the temple, aside from first seeing it, were learning how to play Pai Sho on their giant table and the time I discovered the all day echo chamber. Twice we visited the Eastern Air Temple and I met with the girls who lived there as well, they were always social and easily accepted me, a complete stranger, into their play groups. Our last trip though is the one I will remember best. It was our, well my, only journey to the Southern Air Temple.

Unlike the Western and Eastern Temples I had visited in the past, cared for exclusively by nuns, the Southern Temple was home to the monks and male students. It was here that my mother introduced me to one monk, his name I've long forgotten, an old friend of my father's, with whom he trained in the ways of airbending. He spoke fondly of my father, bragging that the two of them were the best airbenders of their time, him then my father.

While he was reminiscing we were interrupted by a young monk, the elder's pupil. He introduced his student, the goofy kid, no more than a few months older than myself, was the youngest airbender in history to earn his tattoos. He proudly showed off his still incomplete body art, jumping a top a small ball of air and spinning around to do so. When the elder mentioned that I was from the Fire Nation, the boy lit up. He started talking about his friend Kuzon and all the stuff they would do together, and then asked me if I knew Kuzon as well. I could see the disappointment in his eyes when I told him that I didn't, but he quickly rebounded, suggesting that someday the three of us could get together and play hide-n-explode. I wish I could say we did, but I would be lying.

Upon our arrival back in the capital, we were greeted with big news from the Fire Lady herself. Rokia's mother was pregnant with her second child and soon my friend would be a big sister. Over the next eight months we became obsessed with babies, we'd plan how we would raise her baby sister, all the stuff we could teach her, never once considering the possibility that the baby might be a boy. We also play pretended we were adults raising our imagined daughters, 'Princess Ursa' and my daughter 'Kuma,' and what it would be like having them grow up together as best friends just like their 'mothers.' We helped prepare the palace for the baby's arrival, even aiding in the refurbishing of Rokia's old bedroom, as best as two twelve year old girls could at least.

The time was drawing near for the Fire Lady to give birth when the comet came. Rokia told me she could feel the power of the comet flowing through her, saying she felt as if it had unlocked an energy hidden deep within her body, and that this new found power scared her. She wasn't the only one to feel this either, firebenders everywhere described how their bending was enhanced beyond master levels. The comet must have also affected the baby because as it arrived the Fire Lady went into labor, delivering a son while the comet was at its highest point in the sky. The sages announced Prince Azulon's birth to the nation, proclaiming the comet as a good omen for the newborn.

Weeks later we learned that the war started that same day as well. We attended award ceremonies and parades celebrating Fire Lord Sozin and his generals' various victories over the Air Nation Armies. One particular ceremony re-named the comet 'Sozin's Comet' in the Fire Lord's honor, he was viewed as a hero, the one who would take our nation and its prosperity and expand it to become the most successful empire in history. I never felt right about any of it, but I knew what would happen to me if I opposed the Fire Lord, so I kept quiet and life went on.

**A/N: Chapter 1 is finally up, I've had it pen written since I posted the Prologue, but kept changing things as I typed it, so it took forever. I am looking for someone who would be interested in Beta reading this and potential future project, so if you're interested, PM me. **

**For the record, Sozin's story of how Roku died is not intended to match what we saw in the show, this is what he told Sen; there is no mention of Azulon having a sister in canon, she is my creation for the purpose of giving Sen a childhood friend; Azulon was in fact born the same year the comet came, I took the liberty of having him born the day it came. **

**Please comment, critique, etc. **


	3. Banishment

**Banishment**

The Avatar universe, including all canon characters and locations, are © Viacom. Sen and Rokia are my creations.

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The comet and birth of Prince Azulon also marked the transition out of our childhood and into our teen years, though the differences between the two were few. Rokia and I continued to grow closer as friends and became even more inseparable. The biggest changes were probably how we spent our time together; cart-wheeling evolved into sparing matches, tea party and make-believe into royal dinners, and our immature teasing of boys became serious flirting and even some dates. Though, deep down, I think the princess still hated most of the boys, especially the ones that treated her like their ticket to the throne. Another thing that didn't change was Rokia's distaste for firebending, yet she enjoyed practicing the forms and even taught me a great deal. It wasn't long before the two of us were doing synchronized routines across the palace lawn.

Prince Azulon grew up quickly and before we knew it he was already eight years old. For me, he was almost as much my baby brother as he was Rokia's. It was quickly apparent that he too was a prodigy firebender like his sister, but it is possible that he was more so. The prince never had the reservations his sister had towards the art, and so seemed to progress much faster than she did. He was quick to carelessly show-off his techniques as soon as he learned them, and sometimes even before he could control them. One such instance involved him showing off a flip-kick his master had shown him the day prior. He overexerted himself and sent a wave of flames directly at my face. Hadn't Rokia stepped in to dissipate the blast, the left half of my face would have been severely disfigured and burned. When Rokia and I would practice forms on the lawn Azulon would criticize us, telling us we were doing it wrong. He couldn't understand why we would want to just do the forms without creating fire.

This antagonizing nature only grew as he did. The prince would often brag about sneaking into war meetings and tell us what he would hear. He would also add in his own flair to spice up other stories as well as outright lie about anything. Most of his lies were stories fabricated to prod us into a reaction, so it was often hard to discern when he was being forthright and when he was playing his game. Things eventually came to a head when he brazenly broke the news to me that my mother had died.

"You sick little bastard," I yelled, punching him in the face. "Why would you even think to tease about something like that?" But unfortunately for me, he wasn't teasing, and when one of the servants informed the Fire Lord that I had struck his son, I was summoned for discipline.

The Fire Lord lectured me on how I had been raised as if I were a princess of our nation and as such he expected me to behave as one, going on about not attacking messengers and other basic etiquette I had been taught since I was a girl. All the while, Prince Azulon stood at his father's feet, smirking at me and wearing his black eye as sort of battle scar. For the record, I regret my actions, not because I regret hurting him, but because I regret giving him the satisfaction. Sozin finished by telling me that Azulon had requested he be lenient with me, if only I apologized to him according to the prince's standards. I considered arguing my case but I knew it would only land me in deeper trouble. What seemed to be a simple request was actually one of the more humiliating moments of my life, especially with the child's smug look of satisfaction. After I had done this, the Fire Lord excused me so I could prepare for my mother's cremation ceremony.

The ceremony began with the sun slowing setting, my mother's casket set ablaze as the sun first touched the horizon. The Fire Lord gave a moving oration, reminiscing on his younger days watching my father pine away after her, the attempts he had made to hook them up, and eventually on what it was like being the best man at their wedding. He ended by expressing his hope that he had kept his promise to my father and treated her well. On his last words the small congregation left by the light of the still burning pyre.

I spent all that night and much of the next morning sifting through my mother's belongings, desperate to save what memories of her I could before they were lost forever. Nothing could have prepared me for what I found while poring over her numerous journals. Buried within the scrolls was the truth of the past twenty years, information that forever changed how I would remember my childhood. My life was filled with lies, and it started with the biggest lie of all, the night my father died.

Mother recorded that weeks before the comet arrived she was given a vision by my father. He showed her his more recent history with Fire Lord Sozin, the argument they had at their wedding, their confrontation in the throne room which destroyed much of the palace, and finally cumulating with the night the volcano erupted. Sozin had helped my father considerably that night, that much was true, but when he needed his old friend the most, Sozin abandoned my father, leaving him to be buried under the volcanic ash. With my father gone, all of the Fire Lord's plans for expansion were now possible. Caring for my mother, and eventually me, now seems to be his way of easing a guilty conscience.

She further explained her frequent excursions to the Air Temples, attempts to meet my father's reincarnation, the young monk we had been introduced to at the Southern Temple, and to determine the best course of action for stopping Sozin. After the war started, she came into contact with a group she called The Owl, who recruited her to make attempts to end the war on their behalf. She would even go as far as leak information to the Order, an act of treason if the Fire Lord ever found out, but he was always away, often times trying to find the new Avatar, who had somehow survived the attacks on the Air Temples. It seemed that the Fire Lord knew what my mother was doing but never saw her as a real threat, so he never took action against her. Until, that is, about a month prior. Mother had gained more support from The Owl which caused Sozin to grow paranoid. Her last entry appeared to be hastily written and sealed and was dated the previous morning, it was addressed to me. It was a warning, that if I should come across this after her death, it was no longer safe for me to stay at the palace. I was to leave as soon as I could and visit the Fire Sages' temple, they could keep me safe until the Avatar returned. She ended the letter, "Remember who you are, the spirits have a plan for you."

I was speechless. I looked over at Rokia sitting on the floor next to me amongst all of my mother's notes and shook my head, she was in shock and denial. Before I could stop her, she had left the room, rushing towards her father's throne room. Following behind her I could hear her muttering to herself, she couldn't believe that her father could be responsible for so much. She desperately wanted him to explain it all away as a misunderstanding, and deep down, I think I did as well. So against my better judgment, I entered the throne room with her, if not just to satisfy my own denial, then at least for moral support as well. What happened next still haunts me even today.

Rokia wanted the Fire Lord to set the record straight, and so he did, but the truth wasn't what she wanted to hear. Sozin confirmed everything my mother had written and more about him, my father, and the war. He went into detail about his genocidal campaign against the Air Nomads, all to eliminate the threat of one small boy. I watched helplessly as my friend broke down before her father, finally seeing him for the demon he truly was. Finally it became too much for her and she snapped. She rose from her knees facing her father, tears running down her eyes, and let loose a magnificent salvo of golden fire that burned brighter than the mid-day sun. Having never before seen her firebend, I was paralyzed with awe at her power.

"You monster!" She screamed, unleashing her rage.

The intensity of her attack left me blinded momentarily, and when my vision returned, I saw Rokia crumpled on the floor, her body burning from what only could have been a return attack from her father. I sprinted to her side and smothered out the embers with my robe.

"How could you do that to your own daughter!" I shouted at him, my eyes now flooding with tears that hissed as they fell onto Rokia's charred body.

"I have no daughter," he spat venom, the words striking me with a similar intensity as his last attack.

We were banished on the spot, the Fire Lord gave me until sundown to leave the capital or face execution. So I packed what I could of my mother's and my things and began caring for my friend's wounds. With the little money I had, I was able to hire a local fisherman to take us the Sages' Temple. There we were allowed to rest until the former princess had healed enough to continue traveling, but no longer. Fire Sage Kaja explained to us that after the comet came, Fire Lord Sozin had force them into taking an oath of allegiance to him above their duties to the Avatar. He allowed us to stay and even found us transportation to the Earth Kingdom Colonies.

"Regardless of oath," he told me as we were leaving, "my loyalty will always be to your father, Sen, and therefore to you. Even at the risk of death." He handed me a single Pai Sho tile and sent us on our way.

**A/N: Chapter 2 is now up and soon will be on dA as well (see my profile for the link to my dA account). I have to upgrade the rating to K+ because of Sen's outburst at Azulon, I tried to keep it K, but Sen insisted she would not have called him just a 'brat' in this instance (and to be honest, I'd probably curse him out worse than she did), though I may upgrade to T for the fight scenes.**

**For the record, you may recognize the name Fire Sage Kaja, assuming you have read the Escape from the Spirit World online comic, he is Fire Sage Shyu's (the Sage who helped Aang in Winter Solstice Part 2) grandfather, and was the Sage who personally trained Avatar Roku.**


	4. Starting Over

**Starting Over**

The Avatar universe, including all canon characters and locations, are © Viacom. Sen and Rokia are my creations.

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So we set sail. Aboard the ship we were taken to see Medical Officer Dee, an old friend of the Sage we had just left, she was put in charge of caring for Rokia on our voyage. Dee was a true miracle worker, the best thing we could have hoped for. Three times a day she cleaned and redressed Rokia's wounds, were it not for her constant care, I believe Rokia's scars would have been far worse. She was also a joy to talk to, never without an amusing story from her past. She often reminisced on growing up 'back north' and of all the friends she had made all over the world. She was filled with a positive energy that rubbed off on both the princess and me, and it wasn't long before the two of us started feeling like our old selves. I told Rokia I thought she was so much stronger than I could ever be, that, were I the one in her shoes, I didn't think I would've been able to go on living like she was. Her response astounded me, she saw me as the strong one. She didn't think she would have been able to continue with the strength I showed had she let me be hurt as badly as she had been. She went on to thank me for being by the side that morning, she firmly believed I saved her life, there wasn't a doubt in her mind, Sozin would've watched her die on the floor before him.

When I wasn't in the medical bay with Rokia and Dee, I was interacting with our other shipmates. Though all from different lives and backgrounds across the Fire Nation, we shared one thing in common, we were all seeking new lives within the colonies. Stories, gossip and rumors abound while at sea as everyone shared about friends, family, and the rest of their lives back in the Fire Nation. One merchant from the capital had one story everyone was particularly interested in hearing.

He explained that many of his patrons were nobles who lived in or around the palace, so he often overheard various stories about the royal family, and that on his last day in the capital he was told that the princess had died in a training accident. The story as he told it went that, despite only being eight years old, Prince Azulon had started to surpass his older sister in firebending skill and this made the Fire Princess jealous, so she started training unsupervised, often attempting advanced forms she was nowhere near skilled enough to control. She would spy on her brother's lessons and then endeavor to duplicate his techniques on her own, almost always failing. During one session, Prince Azulon was able to master a particularly advanced technique with absolute ease, but when the princess practiced the move, botching it multiple times, she grew frustrated to the point that her next attack exploded in front of her. Despite the best efforts from the royal doctors, the burns she suffered from the explosion were too severe, she died of her wounds the next morning. The merchant went on to say that one of the young girls who had been friends with the princess suffered a mental breakdown during the princess's funeral, had to be escorted from the ceremony, and was committed to the Fire Nation Sanitarium for treatment.

Knowing the truth, I was absolutely shocked. Not that Sozin would lie about what happened, I expected that. No, I was shocked at how elaborate the cover up actually was. And to be honest, both Rokia and I were relieved to hear this. It sounds weird to say, but our relief was two-fold. Not only did the Fire Lord completely sever our ties to our old lives, allowing us a clean start without fear of our past catching up to us. But the elaborateness of the cover up demonstrated how much of a threat Sozin saw us. We decided it would be best to take full advantage of this freedom from the past and leave our names behind us with everything else, Sen and Princess Rokia were now truly dead and in their places Kuma and Ursa were born. Upon arriving in port we said our farewells to Dee and left the ship using the identities of our once imagined children.

We wandered through the town for several hours until we were approached by an elderly man who addressed me as "Daughter of Roku." He introduced himself as Master Sud. Once my father's earthbending teacher and always his friend, he was an ally of Dee's and would be responsible for getting us started with our new lives in the Earth Kingdom. He brought us back to his house and we began discussing the possible arrangements we had before us. We started by first establishing our current location on a map of the map of the Earth Kingdom, we located the city on the west coast of the central Earth Kingdom.

Northwest of us, continuing up the coast were multiple small villages and a military outpost, not really the locale we had in mind. Across the bay south of us were several more small villages and the larger town of Chin, a place Sud warned us to avoid. The residents of Chin had bad history with the Avatar and since I was the Avatar's daughter, Sud surmised that their hatred for my father would extend to me. That only left traveling east, further inland. Not too far in, nestled within a small mountain range, was the city of Omashu, Master Sud's hometown. The three of us agreed that was our best option, and Master Sud assured us we would be safe there. He told us that he was personal friends with the king of the city and knew he would be willing to help us as well.

With our destination planned we began gathering the necessary supplies for our journey. Master Sud was very generous; most of our supplies were his possessions and what he could not give us he gave us the money to buy. The journey to Omashu would take five days and yet we were given almost two weeks worth of trail rations in addition to two ostrich-horses, about a dozen gold pieces each, and a sealed message for the king explaining our situation. We were set to leave in the morning.

Our last night there, Ursa removed her bandages for the last time and I was finally able to see the full extent of her wounds. Naturally, her forearms and hands had suffered the worst damage. They had become a wrinkled, twisted mass of coarse pink skin with a near total loss of touch in her hands. At her elbows, the scars striped their way up towards her shoulders and across her upper back. They licked down her chest and across her breasts. Up her neck and across the right side of her face the reached, covering her chin up to her lower lip and moving up her cheek. They stopped just below her eye and continued back, across the lower half of her ear then cutting into her hairline behind it. Standing in front of me, naked with her hair tied up in the traditional topknot, all of this was plainly evident. But when we said our goodbyes the next morning, fully dressed, gloves on her hands, and her hair down covering the right side of her face, all that remained visible were the marks on her chin and parts of her cheek in between tresses of her hair.

**A/N: I've had this written out for close to a month now, but I suffered writter's block when I was editing and typing it up, so whatever. I already have Chapter 4 written on paper and I hope to have it up in several weeks. I really want to be able to post Chapter 5 by the end of the year.**

If you remember the gift Kaja gave the girls when they left, you should be able to figure out how Kaja, Dee, Sud, and the king of Omashu know each other. There's actually much more of a backstory I want to give Dee that may come up in a supplemental chapter later on.

And look, a reference to the first chapter with the new names they took. It is worth noting that from here on out Princess Rokia will be refered to as Ursa in the story and she should not be confused with Zuko's mother who carries her namesake, she won't even be born for another couple of chapters.

I have a sketch of Rokia on my dA account, see profile, here's where it fits into the story.

Some notes on inspiration:  
- While Kuma is the Japanese word meaning bear, Ursa in Latin, the name choice was originally a reference to Fandomme's Stormbenders. Specifically the legend Zuko told Katara about the first Agni Kai in Chapter 10. Sen knows of this legend and absolutely loved the name as a child.  
- I also got a lot of help with locations from a map of the Avatar world created by *AlisaChristopher on dA.


	5. Omashu

**Omashu**

The Avatar universe, including all canon characters and locations, are © Viacom. Sen and Rokia are my creations.

* * *

Five days, that was how long Master Sud had told us it would take to get to Omashu on foot. The first four days were painfully uneventful and thus we managed to make great time. It was early in the afternoon of the fourth day when we reached the foot of the mountains separating us from our destination. According to our map, the passing would take the better part of the day, so instead of continuing on and having to make camp on the mountain, we decided to wait until the next day. Curious about our setting, we decided to use the rest of the day exploring the surrounding terrain.

What we found was absolutely amazing. About a mile from our campsite, not marked on the map, was the entrance to a cave. What made this cave special was that the entrance seemed to have been cut into the earth itself, the ground forming high rock walls on either side of the trail. Adding to the splendor were giant stone statues of spirits, we assumed they were there to protect the cave and hoped they protected travelers as well. I remember thinking that I would not want to be on the wrong side of those spirits. Above the mouth of the cave was an inscription which, regrettably, I've long since forgotten. The elaborateness of the cave entrance led Ursa and I to believe that it was a short cut through the mountain. Under this assumption, we returned to camp and packed everything back up in the hopes of at least being able to see Omashu that night.

In truth we were mistaken. We had expected to be able to follow a single path through the mountain and reach the other side in a few hours. Instead, we found a labyrinth of tunnels, crisscrossed beneath the mountain. It wasn't long until we decided we should go back and making the crossing over like we had planned, but by that time we were already hopelessly lost. We could not have realized it at the time, but instead of making our way back out, we ventured deeper and deeper into the cave. In what must have been the heart of the mountain we found a burial chamber. The walls of the tomb revealed its occupants' story.

In the era before we could bend the elements there were two lovers. Separated by distance and a war between their peoples, they met in secret beneath the mountain that divided their villages. They learned earthbending from the badger-moles and used the new art to create the elaborate maze in which we now stood. One day though, the man fell victim to the war. Stricken by grief, the woman stood between the tribes and unleashed a terrible display of her earthbending. But instead of killing everyone, she declared the war over. A new city was built atop the mountain where they first met. The city was named Omashu after the woman Oma and her lost love Shu.

The story was beautiful, as was the shrine within the tomb dedicated to the lovers. It was a larger than life statue of Oma and Shu kissing with the inscription 'Love is brightest in the dark.' As we left the chamber, something moved in the darkness beyond the torchlight causing Ursa to drop the torch she was holding. It went out as soon as it hit the floor and the darkness immediately engulfed us. There was half a moment of panic as we groped for the torch in the darkness. But before we could reach it, the darkness began to melt as a faint came from the ceiling. Embedded in the cave above us was a line of luminescent crystals which emitted a soft blue glow. We noted that they seemed to run in certain parts of the cave and we concluded they must mark the path that led out. Following them, it wasn't long before we had made it through the cave and could see the city lights in the distance. We surmised the night was still young, as the nearly full moon was still low in the eastern sky above the city. So we set camp and waited for morning.

We reached the city walls the next morning just before noon. The two young guards who stopped us were very handsome and true gentlemen; after seeing the note we had been given, they had escorted us themselves straight to see the king. I had expected a long and drawn out process in which we wouldn't be able to meet with the king personally for some time, if at all. Rather, it was the opposite. We were granted an audience with the king almost immediately. He read the letter then called in his son Bumi and asked him to show us the city and then take us to our new apartment. Bumi, who was maybe a year and a half younger than myself, gave us quite the unconventional tour, pointing out uses for things for which I doubt they were intended. It was early evening by the time we arrived at our new residence, a nice two bedroom apartment close to the palace, paid for in full by the king himself. Bumi informed us that his father would be having a feast that night in our honor. We ate better that night than we had for some time, sharing stories and just enjoying ourselves, for once forgetting our worries and just living in the moment.

We lived in the city for nearly ten full years, adjusting to our new lives with relative ease. The king's son became one of our closest friends. Bumi had a, unique, way of looking at things, as we learned in his tour of the city, best expressed by his favorite saying, "You have to keep your brain open to the possibilities." His way of thinking often got him in trouble, but more often it allowed him to be able to achieve things others would consider impossible. He also had an insatiable appetite for jokes and riddles, and would come up with new ones, some better than others, almost weekly. What I found most shocking though, was that he had known and had been good friends with Aang, the young monk Sen had met all those years before. We often talked about him, be it wishful thinking or serious, we believed he somehow survived the Fire Nation's attacks and was biding his time, preparing to fight the Fire Lord and put an end to the war.

Though both Bumi and his father knew who we had been before the war, they didn't care, it wasn't who we were any more. The king had advised us though, that we should keep it a secret. The general distrust the citizens had towards the Fire Nation when we started colonizing their land had evolved into fear and hatred after the war had started. We had assumed as much and were never particularly eager to even talk about our past lives. But it seemed fate had other ideas. Eighteen years to the day after the war had formally started, our past caught up to us.

A small platoon of Fire Nation spies had infiltrated the city as part of an intelligence gathering mission. They were the first stage of a full blown invasion of the city. While trying to gain access to the palace, one of the soldiers recognized me from his childhood. He was one of the many noblemen's sons who had wanted to court the princess. When he later saw Ursa with me he was able to figure out her identity as well. After reporting us to his commanding officer, he was ordered to detain us so we could be brought back to the Fire Nation. What purpose this was meant to serve, I haven't any guess. As far as the Fire Lord was concerned, we were dead, worth less as prisoners than any other Earth Kingdom citizen. Whatever the reason, they attempted to capture us that night. Wanting to be stealthy about it, we were first ambushed by only two of them, but we easily held them off. Two more joined fray, but even then we were able to defend ourselves using only the forms we once practiced across the palace lawn. The last three quickly joined in the effort to get us under control. They outnumbered us seven to two, yet they still couldn't gain the upper hand. Only after Ursa had incapacitated two of our attackers did they abandon their idea of a stealthy attack. The captain ordered that they used their firebending to end the fight quickly. Still this only proved to force a stalemate. We were too quick and nimble for them. As the battle wore on, people began to take notice. Once enough people realized they were Fire Nation, guards had been summoned and were on their way.

Before the guards could arrive though, I made a fatal mistake. Everything happened so fast that I never could tell exactly what transpired, but the end result was that Ursa was finally forced to use her firebending to save me. Against her better judgment, she used her bending to drive our attackers back. In no time at all, the remaining five spies were subdued. Unfortunately, the guards, who only knew that firebenders were attacking some citizens, saw Ursa's attacks and arrested us. After being informed that the other seven were also firebenders, they too were detained, separate from us. Once things had been sorted out, the seven soldiers were kept as prisoners of war while we were taken to see the king.

During our audience, the king dismissed all his guards so we could discuss our situation privately. He informed us that, though it saddened him greatly, we would no longer be welcome, or safe, in the city. There was no way to tell what the citizens might do once they learned that we were from the Fire Nation. For our own protection, the king had his son escort us back to the western coast, where we would be able to find transportation to Gao Ling village. There we would meet another member of 'the Order' that had been protecting us since my mother's death. We were allowed to return to our apartment and pack our things before we departed in the morning. To identify ourselves as under the protection of 'the Order,' the king presented me with a second Pai Sho tile to replace the one Kaja had given me which I had lost.

On our way to the port, Bumi promised to keep in touch once we arrived in Gao Ling. We talked for the entire journey, reminiscing about the past ten years we had together. Bumi even broke out more of his jokes and riddles. At the port, Ursa and I said our goodbyes, while Bumi insisted on instead leaving us with a riddle, promising to have a messenger reveal the answer to us once we made it to Gao Ling. The riddle went like this; "How can you tell the difference between an ostrich-horse and a koi fish?" Pondering this, we set sail again, this time aboard a merchant ship bound for Gao Ling.

**A/N: Well here it is; Sen the Daughter of Roku chapter 4. I might actually be able to post chapter 5 by the end of the year. If not, it'll definately be up by mid January.**

**And we are introduced to more canon characters and locations. Sorry for the blatant re-telling of the Cave of the Two Lovers story, but Sen doesn't know that anyone else has ever heard the story. **

**I'm curious if anyone recognizes the name of the new town they're heading to? Gao Ling? It is a canon location in the Avatar universe.**


	6. Destiny

**Destiny**

The Avatar universe, including all canon characters and locations, are © Viacom. Sen/Kuma and Rokia/Ursa are my creations.

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Once again we set out, hopeful that Gao Ling would provide us a safe haven from our pasts. But this voyage was markedly different from the previous more than a decade prior. Last time, Ursa and I traveled alongside others in similar circumstances to our own, but this was not the case anymore. Where we had been passengers traveling on a transport vessel, treated with at least a little dignity, we were now living cargo aboard a merchant vessel, treated like stock. The captain was strictly a businessman. He ran a tight crew on his small vessel and didn't have room for passengers, so we were forced to stay below deck in the cargo hold with the rest of his merchandise. In addition to the poor quarters, we were only granted a half-day's rations to split between the two of us. Things were going to be rough over the course of the two weeks it would take us to reach Gao Ling. Two weeks instead of four days because the captain had a route he had to keep, stopping at nearly half a dozen ports on the way to make deliveries and pick up goods to be taken elsewhere.

Thankfully, there was a bright side to all of this, a single relieve from our discomforts. The captain may have come across as a cold-hearted man, but not his first mate, Gui Lee-Gan. He was a kind-hearted, compassionate man who pity on us, helping us in any way he could. Gui first helped us get situated within the cargo hold, moving crates and the like around to make us more comfortable. He came down to check on us often, keeping us up-to-date on where we were and what they would be doing. Several times he even came down and shared his rations with us. It quickly became clear to me why he was being so nice to us; he had fallen in love with Ursa. She of course didn't see it until after I said something, and even then she tried denying it at first. But after some coaxing, she finally admitted that there might be something between them. It wasn't long after I got her to admit she might like him back that we reached our halfway point. Gui came down to let us know we were pulling into the port at Whale Tail Island, he then went on to propose to Ursa. He asked her if she would wait for him once we arrived in Gao Ling. His contract with the captain was set to expire by the end of the shipping season, and with the money he had saved up they could buy a small place and raise a family quite comfortably. Before Ursa could answer though, Gui was called up by the captain for work ashore. He left saying she could answer when he returned.

Ursa was initially hesitant, and I didn't blame her, but I wanted so badly for her to be happy. Gui was a hard working, honest man who would make a great husband and father. At last she made up her mind, she'd reveal to him her true identity and if he still loved her, she'd wait for him. I was elated for her, and for a moment we reverted to the little girls we once were, planning her dream wedding in which I would be standing by her side as a sister. Our excitement was short lived though, and the future we had started imagining quickly vanished from our eyes. The ship had begun moving once again and it wasn't long before we could tell we were back in open waters. This wasn't a problem, except Gui hadn't come down to check on us before leaving port. At first we stayed put, assuming that perhaps he was busy and unable to check on us, but as minutes turned to hours, we began to fear something had happened to him. Ursa decided she'd sneak around above deck to try to find out what.

I say snuck because the captain had been very clear that we were to stay within the cargo hold for the duration of our journey, no exceptions. Our meager rations were brought to us by a crew member, normally Gui, and if we needed to use the head, we were to be accompanied by another member of the crew, again, usually Gui. The penalty if we were found breaking this agreement was a termination of our contract, being bound until we could be removed from the ship at the next port, regardless of its location. Luckily for her, Ursa had mastered the art of stealth as a young child sneaking around the palace without being caught by the guards.

She returned to our little nook of the ship and told me the bad news; we had been captured by pirates. From what she could tell, they had snuck aboard in port, killed the ship's watch without much difficulty, and left port before anyone even knew what happened. We had heard stories from other travelers of the horrors pirates committed. How they'd ambush ships at sea, kill most of the men and anyone else stupid enough to resist, take any women and girls they found for themselves. Cargo and anything of value on the ship was seized as well. The ships were then salvaged for useful parts before being disposed of, sometimes by burning and setting adrift, occasionally they would be converted and used by the pirates as their new ship or as a second. This knowledge was motivation enough to stay hidden until we could sneak off the ship and ashore. So we began moving the cargo in hopes of hiding us better. We knew it was only a matter of time before they came down to check their new haul and this would only be a temporary arrangement. Subsequently, Ursa had to continuously sneak out so we could know where we were, where we were going, and so we that could plan our escape.

Our captors turned out to be only a small part of the pirate crew, just enough to capture the ship and sail it to a rendezvous point where the rest of the crew would be waiting. In our case, a coastal marsh just south of Chameleon Bay. What was interesting about this place was how fearful the pirates were of a local legend. There was talk of a woman living in that region who seemingly controlled the spirits. They called her the Ghost Witch. For the past eight or so years she apparently attacked Fire Nation troops and anyone else who preyed on the innocent or weak. One of the pirate sailors had even heard that she had killed an entire platoon of Fire Soldiers singlehandedly. I secretly hoped these stories were true and that she might protect us from harm.

Finally the night came where we were close enough to shore to make our escape. When it was safe to do so we stole the longboat from the back of the ship and made our way ashore. With the full moon rising over the horizon, we rowed our way into the marchland. We may have been safe from the pirates but now we were lost in a region whose lore scared those same 'fearless' pirates. It seemed to take hours to make our way through the marsh grass, but when we at last came to solid ground, the moon hadn't yet reached its highest point in the sky. It wasn't long after abandoning our boat that we were able to find a narrow footpath in the mountain forest. We followed it in hopes of coming to a village where we could rest and make plans. Instead, we came into a clearing, in the center of which stood a shrine. The moon cast just enough light to be able to make out to whom the shrine was dedicated; the Ghost Witch of the Mountain, Malu.

Limited in options, we prayed to Malu at the shrine. We pleaded for her to protect us, lost travelers fleeing our captors, and grant us safe passage through her forest. While we knelt at her shrine a cool breeze began to blow over us, then the air was still once again. Taking this to be a sign that Malu had heard our prayers and would be protecting us, we rested there at the base of the shrine, quickly falling asleep. I was the first to wake the next morning, so I quietly walked into the bushes to relieve myself. Squatting next to a tree I heard a hushed voice further on. Assuming it was Ursa, I raised my own voice and told her where I was. Half a moment of silence passed before Ursa replied back, but her voice came from back at the camp, the opposite direction of the first voice. I told her what I had heard and she suggested it might be Malu herself, she wanted to check it out. I was wary but also curious, assuming it was Malu and we could find her, I wanted to thank her personally. What remained of our things we packed and we started tramping through the thick in the direction of the voice.

How whoever I had heard had gotten so close to me was a mystery, the foliage was so dense here it made it hard to walk, let alone do it quietly. Several steps ahead though, there was another footpath, and further down to the left I spotted something moving away from us. I sprinted after it, leaving Ursa behind still struggling through the vegetation. I rounded the corner where I had last seen figure at full speed and nearly tackled the man I had been chasing. As I regained my composure, apologizing for knocking the elderly man down, he stopped me. Gently brushing the dust off his robes as he stood up, he told me he was the one who needed to apologize for spying on me. Especially for doing when he did. He then bowed before me, citing the honor it was to finally meet me, Sen, the daughter of Roku.

I was taken aback, shocked that he knew me, and by my birth name which I hadn't used we were banished. Before I could find the words to ask about this, Ursa finally caught up to us and the man greeted her in the same manner he had me, even referring to her as the Princess of the Fire Nation, Rokia. She looked at me and I just shrugged. The man introduced himself as Pathik, a Guru and close friend of my father's. He knew we had questions for him and he promised to answer them back at his camp, he believed his traveling companion would be interested in meeting us. Turns out, he had also been personal friends with most the airbenders while they were still alive, including the elder monk I had met at the Southern Air Temple. As a guru he shared a close spiritual bond with the Air Nomads. Since before the war even started, about the time my father died, Pathik believed it would be his destiny to aid the new Avatar. This was actually why he had traveled to the region.

He had heard the rumors of a person living in these woods, and of the things he or she had done. But he knew this wasn't the work of one who could control spirits, he believed this person to be an airbender, specifically, the missing Avatar. He then introduced us to the man accompanying him, Kuzon. Kuzon, along with his elder brother Kwan, was the leader of a resistance group staying nearby, they too awaited the return of the Avatar so they could serve as his army to help defeat the Fire Nation and end the war. He had come out here for the same reason and under the same assumptions Guru Pathik had. He believed this 'Ghost Witch of the Mountain' just might be the Avatar. They of course were wrong, Kuzon knew this the moment they saw her. He told us that, as a child before the war, he had known the Avatar, and this was not him. It was just then that figured out what had been bothering me since we were introduced to Kuzon. I had heard his name before, and now I remembered where. The young monk at the Southern Air Temple, the Avatar, said it was the name of his friend in the Fire Nation.

Kuzon's response surprised me. Instead of trying to hide his past the way Ursa and I were, he admitted to everything. He and his brother were once officers in the Fire Army, Kwan a two flame general and Kuzon a colonel, but had since deserted and were now leading a resistance against the Fire Nation. The resistance was made up primarily of freed Earth Kingdom POWs as well as the entire company of Fire Nation soldiers Kuzon was in charge of before he left. The acceptance he showed towards his past inspired something inside Ursa and I. When he had finished telling his story and it was time for us to introduce ourselves, we told him the truth, all of it. I think Kuzon was more surprised at our story than we were at his. We wasted the rest of the day just talking, confiding in each other our dreams of life after the war, as if we had known one another our entire lives rather than for a few hours. The only person who didn't join the conversation was Guru Pathik.

I'm not sure if the others had noticed this as well, if either of them did, they didn't press the matter. He just sat quietly through the entire conversation meditating on something. What it was, I only learned later that night. Once everyone had fallen asleep, Pathik woke me, apologizing for doing so while also assuring me of its necessity. Despite learning that their journey out there had been in vain, that Malu was not the Avatar, he was able to convince Kuzon to stay for a few more days. The reason for this was a vision he had had and needed to decipher before going on. It was only just then that he had learned its meaning. The vision he had was of me and my legacy, my connection to the Avatar, my role to play in ending the war. I asked him what that was but he replied that he could not say, just that I, along with Kuzon, would be bearers of the key to peace.

Only today, with the Fire Nation coming ever closer to victory, do I realize what he meant. We would be the bearers of the keys to peace didn't mean we would help bring an end to the war, not directly at least. Perhaps instead, it meant we would literally bear the one who would. I believe our lineage will have its part to play in ending the war. As my mother once told me, "The spirits have a plan."

**A/N: I was actually able to keep my promise and have it up within the first week of the new year.**

**I think this might be my longest chapter yet, word count put the original file at 2525, 2915 including these A/Ns, and I think all the others stopped just short of 2000. The reason for this is that I really got into the story and kept adding details in the middle. Thus far, this has been the most fun to write.**

**Cookie to whomever can guess the inspiration behind the first mate's name, Gui (pronounced like 'Guy') Lee-Gan. **  
**[Hint 1] Say his name fast a couple of times. **  
**[Hint 2] I imagined the ship he was on would be called the _Minnow_**

**Malu is not my creation, she is a character in the A:tLA Trading Card game. (Yes they actually have one, I was surprised too.) I know none of the TCG characters are considered canon, but I really liked her story so I wanted to include her in the story. Her full bio can be found on her Avatr Wiki page. (Just make sure you have the TCG character and not Malu the magician.)**

**You should recognize both Guru Pathik and Kuzon as canon characters, and I even hinted at Sen meeting Kuzon back in chapter one.**

**Kuzon's older brother on the other hand is my creation. His name, "Kwan" is Chinese meaning 'strong.' It is also related to the names "Quan" in Vietnamese and "Kuan" in Chinese. The first means 'soldier' while the second was the name of a Han dynasty general, Kuan Ti, renowned for his skills as a warrior and justness as a ruler. These all fit how I imagined his character. He will make another appearance in the next chapter.**  
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